Daily Update On Current Affairs – September 26, 2017

On 25th September 2017, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the “Sahas Bijli Har Ghar Yojna” or “Sowbhagya” scheme. This is aimed at supplying 24×7 electricity to poor households across the country. The scheme will cover all rural families after electrification of all villages by December 2017. The government stated that states will be required to complete the household electrification by March 31, 2019. The total outlay for the Saubhagya scheme will be Rs. 16,320 crore. The rural household outlay is estimated to be Rs. 14025 Cr, with Rs. 2295 Cr being for urban households. The scheme will be funded by a 60 percent grant from the government, with the states contributing 10 percent and the remaining amount will be covered by loans. The gross budgetary support for the scheme will be Rs 12,320 Cr.

Andhra CM Declares 2017 as e-Pragati Year

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu declared the year 2017 as the e-Pragati year. The flagship program will help the government to make real-time governance. The Chief Minister also inaugurated the Andhra Pradesh Sports Policy 2017.

India third in nuclear power installations: World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2017

India has been ranked third in the world in terms of the number of nuclear reactors that are installed, according to a recent report by the World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2017. The lead authors of this report are Mycle Schneider and Antony Froggatt. India occupies the third position with 6 nuclear reactors that have been installed, while China is at No. 20. Dr. Shekar Basu is the Secretary of the Dept of Atomic Energy while Mr. Jitendra Singh is the Minister of State.

Saudi Arabia allows women into the stadium for the first time

For the first time in its history, Saudi Arabia has allowed women into sports stadiums for witnessing the National Day celebrations. However, women with family were seated separately from individual men in the King Fahd stadium. Riyadh is the capital of Saudi Arabia while the king is King Salman.

Angela Merkel wins the fourth term as Chancellor of Germany

The Iron Lady of Germany, famous as well as notorious at the same time, won her 4th term as the Chancellor of Germany. Her nearest rivals, the Social Democrats could only garner 20.8% of the votes, an all-time post-war low. Merkel’s Christian Democrats picked up 32.5% to win the elections. Berlin is the Capital of Germany.

SBI Opens new branch in Singapore

On 25th Sept 2017, State Bank of India opened its new branch in Singapore, the sixth in the island city nation. The branch was opened in Ang Mo Kio, a hugely popular residential area of Singapore. SBI offers the highest interest rate amongst all banks in Singapore. About 80% of its customers there are Chinese while the remaining 20% are Indians. The bank also offers wealth management services to its clients. The current chairperson of SBI is Ms. Arundathi Bhattacharya.

Government reconvenes Economic Advisory Council

The Union Government has reconvened the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. The council will be headed by NITI Ayog member Dr. Bibek Debroy. The other members of the council are Dr. Surjit Bhalla, Dr. Rathin Roy, Dr. Ashima Goyal and Ratan Watal. The EAC- PM is an independent body which provides advices on economic issues to the government, specifically the Prime Minister. The body consists of economists with high repute.

NASA’s asteroid-bound spacecraft swings by Earth

On 22nd September 2017, NASA’s asteroid-chasing spacecraft ‘Osiris-Rex’ swung by Earth on its way to an asteroid. Osiris-Rex spacecraft was launched in 2016 at around 17,237 km of Earth above the Antarctic Ocean by NASA. Osiris-Rex was launched to collect samples from asteroid Bennu. Osiris-Rex would reach asteroid Bennu in 2018, collect some of its gravel in 2020 and return to Earth in 2023. On 22nd September 2017, Osiris-Rex came near the Earth. It came close at around 31,000 km and appeared the size of an SUV. NASA took precautions to ensure that Osiris-Rex did not clash with other satellites. Bennu is an ancient asteroid believed to be formed 4.5 billion years ago.

Vaishnavi Reddy wins Belgian Open Junior Badminton

India’s Vaishnavi Reddy won the under 19 Belgian Open Badminton tournament beating Vivian Sandorhazi in the finals played on 24th Sept 2017. Vivian Sandorhazi belongs to Hungary and was seeded No. 1 at the tournament.